Duelist Heaven
by MahaVailo2000
Summary: A story set 20 years after the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, following the story of a young duelist through a new tournament called Duelist Heaven.


DUELIST HEAVEN  
By, MahaVailo2000  
  
It was a cool, crisp September day, and Brandon Isthil was enjoying a nice, relaxing game of Duel Monsters with his younger brother Harry. He was easily able to defeat his young opponent, being the top duelist in the state of Colorado, but he took it easy, not wanting to make Harry feel bad.  
Just as Brandon's Gearfried the Iron Knight took the last of Harry's life points in a direct attack, the doorbell rang. Brandon got up and opened the door. The porch was empty, but he saw the UPS truck pulling away from the curb and looked down to find a small package addressed to him.  
He picked up the box and closed the door. He set the package on the table and pulled out his pocket knife to open it. When he opened it he found a video tape and a small blue bag with an emblem depicting a winged Duel Monsters card. Curious, he popped the tape into the VCR. On the screen appeared a face that every duelist in the world recognized instantly. It was the face of Yugi Mutou, the world's most revered and respected duelist. Yugi was a legend of Duel Monsters, ever since he first defeated the great Seto Kaiba and then went on to win the tournament at Duelist Kingdom, held by the creator of the game, Maximillion Pegasus. That was some 20 years ago however.  
Yugi was now the President and CEO of H.O.T. Cards Incorporated (H.O.T. short for Heart Of The [Cards]). About 5 years earlier, Pegasus contracted some unknown disease, which was lethal and so far incurable. Knowing he was going to die, Pegasus drafted a will, and he left his company, Industrial Illusions, to Yugi, whom he had taken a liking to after seeing the error of his greedy ways. Yugi turned out to have quite a knack for business, and after a couple of years, bought out KaibaCorp. He combined the two and created H.O.T. Cards Inc. His company was now the sole supplier of Duel Monsters cards and technologies.  
"Hi Mr. Isthil, as I'm sure you already know, I am Yugi Mutou, President and CEO of H.O.T. Cards Inc." Yugi said on the screen, "I have sent this tape as an invitation to compete in the big tournament I will be hosting next month. It will be held in a place I have named Duelist Heaven, a floating city that my company has been working on for the past two years.  
This tournament is open only to the top duelists in the United States. The top duelist from each of the fifty states is being invited to participate in the competition. The victor will win 5 million dollars in prize money and will also be given a chance to duel me. As you are the top duelist from the state of Colorado, I sincerely hope that you will accept this invitation. Good Luck and I hope to see you next month in Duelist Heaven."  
The tape ended and Brandon just stared for a minute. Then he slowly looked at Harry.  
"Harry, did I just get invited personally by Yugi Mutou to compete in the biggest tournament since KaibaCorp's Battle City?"  
Harry just nodded.  
"OH! MY! GOD!" he exclaimed, "I can't believe it, I actually have a shot at dueling the legendary Yugi Mutou himself. No way I'm passing this opportunity up, I'm going!"  
A month later, Brandon was sitting in a helicopter headed for Duelist Heaven. It was floating above Hawaii, and it was immense. Brandon looked at it as the helicopter approached, and was amazed that something that big could stay in the air. He looked at the closest corner and saw a gigantic cylinder.  
"That must be one of the anti-gravity generators," he thought to himself.  
The helicopter rose, putting the generator out of his view. The chopper landed on a helipad on the edge of the floating city. Brandon grabbed his bag, made sure his deck was safely hooked to his belt, and exited the copter. It immediately took off again once he was safely out of the way.  
A man with blonde hair came out to meet Brandon. He immediately recognized the VP of H.O.T. Cards, Joey Wheeler, Yugi's best friend. Following close behind was a brown-haired man with the look of a tough guard.  
"Welcome to Duelist Heaven Mr. Isthil," Joey greeted him, shaking his hand and smiling, "My name is Joey Wheeler, Vice President of H.O.T. Cards Incorporated and Commissioner of the Duelist Heaven tournament. This is Tristan Taylor, our Chief of Security."  
"It's an honor to meet you Mr. Wheeler, Mr. Taylor." Brandon replied.  
"Ah, don't call me Mr. Wheeler, I've never taken to formalities like that. Just call me Joey."  
"And you can just call me Tristan as well," Tristan said.  
"Ok, Joey, Tristan, call me Brandon," Brandon replied.  
"Great," Joey said, "follow us please."  
Brandon followed Joey and Tristan into a huge amphitheater. Inside, the rest of the competing duelists were assembled, waiting for Yugi. As Brandon joined the crowd, he saw one duelist that looked strangely familiar, though he couldn't quite place his finger on it. He had long black hair that fell halfway down his back, and he was tall, with an air of arrogance and contempt for those around him, as if he believed himself to be better than all of them.  
Brandon was staring at this man when Yugi arrived. He was on a balcony high above the assembled duelists. And with him was a beautiful woman Brandon recognized as Yugi's wife, Tea Gardner-Mutou.  
"Greetings duelists, and welcome. to Duelist Heaven," Yugi said, "The tournament will begin tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. You have each been assigned an apartment in the building next door where you will be able to rest and eat during the tournament. In your rooms you will find a dueling gauntlet, complete with life point counter and card reader. It also sports two holographic projectors that will automatically move into position on the ground to project the images of your cards and monsters in the air during your duels. Also, you each received with your invitation a small blue bag. This bag will be used to hold your number chips. Each of you will be given a number chip to start with, and to win the tournament and the opportunity to face me, you will need to collect all 50 chips. When you duel your opponent, you will wager however many number chips you desire. If you win, you get your opponents chips, and if you lose you must give your opponent your chips. If you lose all your chips, you are out of the tournament. You will be welcome to stay and watch the rest of the tournament of course, but you will not be able to participate. Within the apartment building, there is to be no dueling by anyone still competing in the tournament. If you've been disqualified, you may duel for fun with other disqualified duelists inside the building. I believe that is all the information you require. Go now and get some rest, for tomorrow begins the biggest tournament of your lives, and you will need your strength."  
Brandon followed the other duelists out of the amphitheater and into the apartment building next door. He found his room number on a list posted in the lobby, and went straight upstairs to room 203. He put down his bag and saw the dueling gauntlet and the number chip on the table. He went over and looked at the chip. Number 13.  
"Perfect," he thought, "my favorite number."  
He ordered a cheeseburger and fries, and sat eating in silence, thinking about the tournament. After he finished eating, he got into bed and went to sleep, wanting to be well rested for the next day.  
Brandon woke up at 7:30 the next morning and got dressed. He ordered a quick breakfast and went downstairs and outside, where there were several other duelists milling about, talking or going through their decks. Brandon patted his deck holder on his belt. He didn't need to go over his deck, he knew it well, and trusted in the heart of his cards. He was a firm believer in Yugi's philosophy that the Duel Monsters cards had a heart and would never let down a duelist who believed in them.  
Looking around, Brandon saw Joey talking to Tristan and a pretty, but somewhat intimidating woman with long blonde hair. He walked over to them and smiled.  
"Hey Joey, Tristan. How's it going?" He greeted them.  
"Oh, hey Brandon. I'd like you to meet my wife," Joey said, indicating the blonde woman, "Mai, this is Brandon Isthil, the duelist from Colorado," he told her.  
"It's a pleasure to meet you Mai," Brandon said, shaking her hand, "Hey Tristan, are you married?" he asked.  
"Yeah, I'm married to Joey's sister Serenity as a matter of fact," he replied.  
"Oh, ok," Brandon said, "So you two are brothers, that's cool."  
Just then, Yugi's face appeared on a big screen on the outside of the amphitheater.  
"Good morning duelists," he said, "I want to wish you all the best of luck in the tournament, and I look forward to dueling the winner. Now, It's Time To Duel!"  
The clock struck 9am, and a gong sounded. Joey, Tristan, and Mai all wished Brandon good luck, and he went off to find a duel  
After walking around for a while he was confronted by a woman in her twenties, with blond hair and holding a teddy bear. It was the same teddy bear she had carried around since she was a child. The same teddy bear that she held as she dueled Yugi twenty years before, believing that Yugi's grandfather had stolen her own grandfather's Blue-Eyes White Dragon card. She had been very young then, but was a Duel Monsters prodigy. Brandon recognized her immediately, though even if he hadn't, the teddy bear would have given away her identity. It was Rebecca Hawkins. She was the duelist from California.  
"Hi, I'm Rebecca, and I challenge you to a duel!" she exclaimed.  
"I accept," Brandon replied.  
Though ready to go, Brandon was a bit apprehensive at battling such a great duelist in his first duel. But he shook it off and pulled his deck from its holder, inserting it into his dueling gauntlet.  
The life point counter lit up, showing 8000 LP, and the two holographic projectors zoomed to their positions on the ground. Rebecca did the same.  
"Since this is the first duel for both of us, we will wager one star chip each," Rebecca said.  
Brandon nodded and took a deep breath. This was it, his first duel of the tournament. He had to come out on top.  
"Let's Duel!" they shouted together. 


End file.
